PrepTest 101, Section 4, Question 3
Wherever the crime novels of P. D. James(445 more words not shown)
The second paragraph serves primarily(1 more words not shown)
- Apropose an alternative(6 more words not shown)
- Bpresent previously mentioned(4 more words not shown)
- Ccontradict an assertion(2 more words not shown)
- Dintroduce a controversial(1 more words not shown)
- Eanalyze a dilemma(3 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What changed between paragraphs 1 and 2? First we heard that there are two camps: critics who exaggerate James's merits and critics who think she is reaching above her station. Then we heard what each camp actually says. Admirers praise her characters, settings, and ideas; detractors want her to get back to solving the crime.
What we’re looking for
So the paragraph fills in positions already introduced. Remember that literary criticism includes favorable assessments, not just attacks: the first half of this paragraph matters too.
Working the answers
- A
The proposed alternative—trying mainstream fiction—comes in the last paragraph. Paragraph 2 is still explaining the critics' views.
- BCorrect
The discussion of critics who rank James’s books as high literature develops the favorable camp (paragraph 2), and “Others” introduces the unfavorable camp. These are the two positions from the opening, now presented in greater detail.
- C
The paragraph doesn't contradict the earlier account of two opposing camps. It supplies the details that make that account concrete.
- D
We aren't getting a new controversial interpretation. We're hearing more about the reactions already mentioned, before the writer gives an assessment of James.
- E
Two conflicting opinions don't by themselves create a dilemma. This paragraph reports those opinions; it doesn't analyze a problem in which someone must choose between two difficult courses of action.
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